Jumpers for Goalposts follows an ex-footballer who is anxiously awaiting an important phone call, but his day is severely interrupted when his estranged father comes knocking on the door.

It's is a heartfelt story about the hopes, fears and responsibility of fatherhood within working class Britain. It studies the bond between father and son, but also how difficult it is for people to move onto the next stage of their lives and the anxiety that brings with it. Jumpers for Goalposts is an idea that looks to tackle these difficult relationships, exploring themes of redemption, regret and family in the process.

“The idea behind Jumpers for Goalposts stemmed from the sudden loss of my aunt, who fell victim to a major heart attack and suddenly passed away last year. Her passing had a tremendous impact on my family, and it brought us all closer together in a sense. However, it triggered the thought that unfortunately people sometimes never get to fix their relationships with people before they die, therefore leaving them with a lingering sense of guilt and regret for many years later. Writing this script allowed me to gain some control in those situations, and allowed me to offer these characters a crucial opportunity to heal their fractured relationship before it’s too late. Reflecting on what I envision for the film, I tend to utilise camera movement to help visually convey story and character efficiently to the audience while also enriching the viewer's experience aesthetically too. I feel that Jumpers for Goalposts has a strong range of emotional beats and relationship dynamics to experiment with frame composition and movement too, which is a really exciting prospect.”

- Thomas Elliott Griffiths, writer/director

Thomas Elliott Griffiths - Writer / Director / Producer

Thomas Elliott Griffiths is a first-class graduate in Film Studies and Film Production from Edge Hill University. He has directorial experience in documentary, music video and narrative film productions. His debut documentary, Autism: A Curious Case of the Human Mind, earned Best Feature Documentary and Best of Festival awards at the 2017 Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, with the film going on to garner several nominations around the world. His following project, Sticks and Feathers (2018) saw his work awarded with the Best Factual Film prize in 2018 at Hothouse Theatre’s Nottingham Film Festival. Thomas has recently produced an independent feature film entitled Kate & Jake, which wrapped in July 2021, and is set to enter the festival circuit in 2022.

Neal McAndrew - Producer

Neal McAndrew is a Liverpool based producer and writer who is currently building his slate of short projects. His solo producing debut Beast of Burden, was completed in February and is currently being selected and screened on the festival circuit. He has also wrapped a new short Homecoming that is awaiting completion.

Neal joined the production of feature Kate & Jake as a 2nd assistant director and this is where he has developed the working relationship with the Jumpers for Goalposts team and has now jumped on to produce.

Neal takes great pride in being able to assemble team on young enthusiastic film makers within his home city and sees this project as a perfect way to achieve this going forward. 

Neal has also just been selected for the BFI Creative Producers Lab programme and will be utilising the opportunity to further refine his work and upcoming projects.

Jack McLoughlin - Producer / First Assistant Director

Jack McLoughlin is a writer, director, editor and producer based in Liverpool, England. Making films since he was a child, when he was 14 his short film Chupacabra won the Freehand Talent Award at FACT's Young Person Cinema Night. In 2015, Jack's film Victims won the Vesbim Award at the Liverpool International Film Festival. Modern Lennon, a film which he also directed, was shown as part of Hurricane Films' (Of Time and The City, Sunset Song, A Prayer Before Dawn) Sgt Pepper's at 50 Celebration in the prestigious Woolton Picture House.

Jack’s short film; Shopping List, was made an Official Selection as part of the Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival, which was shown worldwide. Jack's most recent short film Bud earned strong praise from critics and audiences, snagging the Best Short Film award at the Infinity Film Festival too. Earlier this year. Jack directed his debut feature film, Kate & Jake, which he also wrote and produced. It’s currently in post-production and set to enter the festival circuit in 2022. Jack has also worked on professional sets as a floor runner on shows such as Peaky Blinders and Danny Boyle's film Yesterday. He has also shadowed Directors Ben Wheatley and Phillip Barantini, the latter of whom he was also the assistant for on his feature film Boiling Point starring Stephen Graham.

Cameron Brown - Director of Photography

Through a passion for the art of cinema, Cameron explores how different qualities of light can be used to tell the story and create a specific mood. He likes to establish a unique style for each film, thinking about the colours to use, the contrast ratio, and a particular texture of the image. He focuses on striking a balance between creative ideas, and technical challenges in order to achieve a coherent visual style.

Cameron joins this project following his work with the team on Kate and Jake

We are raising money to fund various aspects of the film production, such as: - Securing the locations needed for the film (£200) - Costume and Production Design (£200) - Paying our cast and crew a fair wage (£1,650) - Feeding our cast and crew on set (£100) - Crowdfunding platform fee (£125 - 5% total money raised) - Film Festival submission fees (£200) We have high aspirations for the film, particularly aiming for it to find success in film festivals around the world. Your contributions and involvement with our project is crucial for us to make Jumpers for Goalposts a reality, and even just sharing our campaign with others who may be able to help can drive this production in the right direction. We are lucky enough to have access to the equipment we want to use for the project and the talent to use it, we just need to make sure people are paid fairly for their time and that the production design is good enough to draw our audience into the characters world. A visual breakdown of our budget is laid out below for you to see what your support would be going towards…

If we fail to reach our intended goal, we still intend to create the film, however, our backs will be up against the wall and production will be much more difficult - that's why every single donation is crucial towards the overall quality of the final product.

On the flip side, if we manage to SURPASS our crowdfunding target, then we can actually expand on our ideas with access to better kit options and locations, which in turn will make the final product even better!

Please make sure to check out all of the available perks on offer, there are loads of great ways to get involved with the project and support us!